I was wondering how the usually character-conscious Steelers would handle these issues. Now it's becoming clear that they absolutely don't want to deal with problem players and will get rid of them if it's convenient for them, even if it means trading a player at the valley of his trade value. I believe Holmes would, in ideal circumstances, garner a second round pick at least.
Holmes is a top-flight wide receiver. He may not have the height of Andre or Calvin Johnson, but he has all the other necessary skills to be a team's No. 1 receiver. The Jets are taking a risk on his character, but that risk involves only giving up a fifth round pick and giving him a year in the organization before deciding whether to sign him to a long-term deal, which, if all goes well, they will. If Holmes can stay away from the marijuana (and possibly stop posting his intentions to smoke it on Twitter) and stop getting into trouble in other areas, the Jets will be the primary benefactors of this deal. But Holmes has a history of run-ins with the law, so we'll see how that goes.
Ugh... I'm torn. I always like to defer my judgment to that of the front office because they usually know what they're doing. But it's tough to react well to a player who made the game-winning catch in the Super Bowl 14 months ago being traded for a fifth round pick. Maybe the Steelers had done all that they thought they could do to change Holmes and hadn't seen any results. It's impossible to know without being in the heads of those that made this decision.
But I think the Steelers, at least in the short term, won't suffer greatly from this deal, as long as Roethlisberger can cope with losing his favorite receiver. I think the success of Mike Wallace last year is the only thing that made this trade possible, because, as James Harrison proved a few years ago and Roethlisberger will eventually prove, the Steelers won't part with a player who brings the team bad publicity unless they think he's easily replaceable. If Wallace continues to progress as he should, he may well become the player Holmes would've become if he had stuck around. For now, Wallace, Ward, Heath Miller, and Antwaan Randle El as the No. 3 receiver will do, especially for a quarterback who likes to spread the ball around like Roethlisberger.
This does mean that wide receiver become a long term need. Hines Ward isn't immaculate, and within the next couple of years, his play will drop off, and the Steelers will need someone to replace him. That player used to be Mike Wallace, but now it will probably have to be another draft pick, because unless Limas Sweed turns his career around, they don't have a viable long term option on the roster besides Wallace.
Munboy wrote:Enjoy the highs of some pretty nice catches and the lows of some pretty mindboggling drops.
I'm sorry, but Holmes rarely drops the ball, at least on the field. Not sure where you're coming from with this.
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by aaawall91 » Sun Apr 11, 2010 11:03 pm 
